Short answer. Article 1157 lists five sources of obligations besides contracts: law itself, quasi-contracts, acts or omissions punished by law, and quasi-delicts. Without a signed agreement, your obligation to someone else has to trace back to one of these other four sources instead.
What the law says
Obligations arise from: (1) Law; (2) Contracts; (3) Quasi-contracts; (4) Acts or omissions punished by law; and (5) Quasi-delicts.
Civil Code, Article 1157 — Sources of Obligations. Read the full provision →
A closed list of five sources
Article 1157 states that obligations arise from exactly five things: law, contracts, quasi-contracts, acts or omissions punished by law, and quasi-delicts. Every legal obligation one person owes another, under this article, has to be traceable to one of these five categories — there is no sixth, open-ended source the article leaves room for. Contracts sit at only one position on that list, which is precisely why the absence of a signed agreement does not end the inquiry into whether an obligation exists.
Law itself, directly
The first source is simply law — obligations that exist because a statute imposes them directly, without needing a contract, a wrongful act, or anything else between the parties. These are obligations the law creates on its own authority, attaching to a person's status or situation rather than to something they agreed to or did. Article 1157 lists this source first and separately from contracts, treating it as a fully independent basis for an obligation rather than as a variation on agreement.
Three more categories, distinct from a contract
The remaining three sources are each named as their own category, separate from an actual contract. A quasi-contract is, by its very name, treated by the article as something that produces an obligation the way a contract does, without being one. Acts or omissions punished by law is its own listed source, tied to conduct the law punishes rather than to any agreement between the people involved. A quasi-delict is likewise listed as a distinct fifth category. Article 1157 does not define any of the three further — it only establishes that each is a recognized source in its own right, standing apart from law and from contract.
Why this matters when there is no contract
Someone who owes, or is owed, an obligation with no contract behind it is not automatically off the hook, or without a claim — Article 1157 makes clear that contracts are only one of five recognized sources. If a signed agreement is not in the picture, the next step is asking whether the situation fits one of the other four: a direct legal duty, a quasi-contract, a punishable act or omission, or a quasi-delict.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Lara’s Gifts & Decors, Inc. vs. Midtown Industrial Sales, Inc, G.R. No. 225433, August 28, 2019 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Abs-Cbn Broadcasting Corporation, et al. vs. Office of the Ombudsman, et al, G.R. No. 133347, October 15, 2008 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Benjamin T. De Leon, Jr. vs. Roqson Industrial Sales, Inc, G.R. No. 234329, November 23, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- People of the Philippines vs. Gerry Lipata y Ortiza, G.R. No. 200302, April 20, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →